St. Clair Shores Sentinel | Published February 11, 2026
ST. CLAIR SHORES — On Feb. 25, 1973, St. Clair Shores made it into the pages of The New York Times.
According to the article, the Army Corps of Engineers reported that three consecutive years of abnormally high rainfall raised water levels in Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair to their highest point since recordkeeping began in 1860. Lake St. Clair was at least 2 feet higher than average. With any sustained cross-lake winds, lakeside communities would flood, according to the Army Corps.
In February and in March, St. Clair Shores residents turned out to fill and stack sandbags along canals, and the Army Corps of Engineers prepared to build dikes along the shore of Lake St. Clair. The Times reported that “there is almost a carnival spirit to the citizen work in St. Clair Shores. Boy Scout Troops, Army reservists, teenagers who ‘want to have fun and meet people’ and neighbors from nearby blocks all pitch in. In terms of community spirit, it is much like an old-fashioned house-raising, complete with hot coffee and, sometimes, beer.”
Despite all the efforts, St. Clair Shores was one of many towns and cities that flooded in the spring of 1973. In the Shores, 2 feet of water covered Jefferson Avenue, about 100 families were forced to evacuate from their homes, and the National Guard was called in to assist with the disaster. At times, the pressure in the system was so high, the water forced some storm drain covers off.
Pictured are some Lakeview High School students preparing sandbags on Milner Road on Feb. 8, 1973.
To view this and other historic photographs, go to www.sbrb-montage.auto-graphics.com.
— Submitted by Heidi Christein, archivist, St. Clair Shores Public Library